August 11, 2012 – Lumpy Rug Day
by mmooch
Summary: **Part of the 2012 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts August Fic-A-Day** series, also known as the 'Wacky Holiday Series'. While on patrol, Buffy runs into an interesting man.


**August 11, 2012 – ****Lumpy Rug Day**

Summary: **Part of the 2012 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts August Fic-A-Day** series, also known as the 'Wacky Holiday Series'. While on patrol, Buffy runs into an interesting man.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2012 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.

Warning: umm, a couple swear words, I think, and one named character's death.

Timeline: AU timing of _'Band Candy'_ for BtVS; vague for Equalizer, but change the dates so they line up.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Equalizer characters belong to Michael Sloan, Richard Lindheim and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Sunnydale City Hall**

**One week after **_**'Band Candy'**_**…**

An ordinary looking man in a nice suit walked calmly into City Hall, not caring that it was hours past the regular working day. He had a mission and wouldn't be denied simply because of the time of day. Most of the time, Robert McCall would carefully investigate a situation, then hand over the perpetrator to the authorities if possible.

It wasn't possible in this case.

No, in this case, the perpetrator _was_ the authority in this town.

His investigation showed that Mayor, the police department…heck, even the high school principal was all part of the same corrupt mechanism. He would hand over proof of the police corruption to state investigators, but the Mayor was his. McCall's honor demanded that the person responsible for the death of one of the few people he cared about in this world paid with his own life.

As much as it would be…pleasurable to do the same to that weasel of a principal, it wouldn't be justice for Karen's death. R. Snyder had also been affected by the tainted candy, so it was clear the worm didn't know there was anything wrong with it. That didn't mean McCall couldn't sic the state education investigators on the man, though. The verbal abuse that man spewed towards his students would be enough to get him removed, and if it wasn't, McCall could always…persuade him that retirement was a good idea.

He snorted as a vampire attacked him in the main lobby. The Mayor really should have gotten more resilient guards. A quick flick of his wrist and the spring loaded knife thrower came out. Normally it would have a metal throwing knife attached, but since McCall knew what he was up against in this town, he had replaced it with a wooden knife. And voila, a pile of dust.

After he reloaded the knife thrower, McCall continued to the Mayor's office. Along the way, he killed another three or four vampires. It would have been a challenge if they had attacked as a group, but since they came at him individually, he had no problems.

Now to take care of the man behind Karen's death.

* * *

**Outside**

**Half an hour later…**

Buffy was walking past City Hall as she patrolled for baddies when she saw a grey-haired gentleman carrying a rolled up rug out of the building. She was considering helping him, but thought about the different mafia movies she had seen over the years. This looked suspiciously familiar to her, and the man – who at first glance wasn't anyone to be concerned about – gave off an aura of danger and death.

Just then, he looked up and saw her standing there. "Ah, Miss Summers," he greeted her, startling the young Slayer greatly. He dumped the rug into the trunk of his car, then turned back to speak with her, "I have something for you."

Instantly she was on the defensive. Hopefully he didn't have a gun since there wasn't much cover near them. "How do you know my name?" she demanded.

He smiled warmly at her, yet it didn't manage to put her at ease. "I've come across information about the work you do to protect the citizens of this town. With any luck, things should get a little better for you soon," he replied vaguely.

Her eyebrow quirked in a question. "And just how should it get better for me?" Buffy asked, unsure if she should be worried that he apparently knew her secret. This was definitely something to tell Giles about later.

In reply, McCall slowly reached in his pocket to retrieve an envelope that contained a copy of the information he had on Snyder. He did it slowly so as to not worry the girl he was trying to help. "In this envelope is a copy of a report I intend to give to the State Education Board concerning one Principal R. Snyder and how he is unfit for his position at Sunnydale High School. It may not be much, but at least you won't have to deal with a hostile learning environment."

Possibly getting rid of Snyder was a nice dream, but that didn't explain what was almost surely a dead body in a rug in this man's trunk.

"Not that I'm not grateful or anything," Buffy began, "but who's the stiff and why'd you kill him?" Okay, so she'd have to work on her subtlety. With vamps it wasn't necessary, so she never practiced that particular art form.

"I assume you recall that incident last week with the babies?" he answered with his own question. When she nodded, he went on, "The Mayor has been doing similar rituals for many years in a quest for more power. Most of the nurses on staff that night were affected by the chocolate, but a dear friend of mine was allergic to chocolate. They killed Karen when she refused to abandon the infants in her care."

"But why did you kill him?" Buffy insisted. "If you can prove that he was responsible, why not turn over the evidence to the police?"

It was McCall's eyebrow's turn to rise, but his rose in bemusement. "And say what? That he was conspiring with demons?" He smiled again when Buffy flushed in embarrassment. "Besides, the local police do his bidding; it would have been pointless to turn him over to them. Normally, I would say there is no point in vengeance, however, I will admit to a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that he will never be able to harm anyone ever again."

Buffy could understand that when it came to the supernatural, it was hard to get justice for the victims – especially when it was a human responsible and not a demon she could slay – but she still had one question. "You could have just left him in his office; why'd you put him in rug to get rid of his body?"

"Didn't you know? Today's May 3rd; it's 'Lumpy Rug Day'," McCall replied with what could only be called a shit-eating grin.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know the last line is totally OOC for McCall, but I had to bring in the holiday somehow! McCall intentionally misconstrued the purpose of the holiday, but you have to admit that his version works for the story.


End file.
